


Blood

by CandaceMarie



Series: Broken Blood Bonds [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M, Mystery, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-25
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-10-23 23:12:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10729257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CandaceMarie/pseuds/CandaceMarie
Summary: When a new student arrives at Wic's high school he is determined to figure out, not who he is, but what he is. He can sense something about him that he knows isn’t normal, and he will go to any lengths to find out why this is.With the new guy, Ki, also suspicious of Wic, it becomes obvious that they can not leave one another alone.Both of them determined to learn the secrets that the other is hiding, together they get pulled into a story that neither of them could have seen coming.





	Blood

**Author's Note:**

> There will be three chapters that take place before this one, but this is the chapter when the plot actually begins. The first three chapters are going to act as an introduction to the four main characters (Wic, Connor, Caleb, and Dess) and their relationships with one another.

 

The four of us were having lunch together, something we did every day. The twins and Dess did most of the talking; I wasn't a talker. I had a tendency to drift of during conversations, it really pissed people off, but I couldn't help it - most conversations bored me. I'd still be listening in the background, but I wouldn't respond unless absolutely necessary. This is how our lunches would normally go with each other; the three of them would talk and I would drift, adding in my two cents when I felt they were worth adding. Usually what I did instead of participating in the conversation was people watch. That's what I was doing now as Desiray was talking about her field trip on Friday that she had gone on while I had stayed behind at school.

I looked around the cafeteria. The room was pretty big. When you came into the room there were two big double doors that lead into a room full with tables. The room stretched far back and stretched out on either side. The four of us always sat at the same table in the middle of the room, slightly to the left.

I was scanning through all the usual people I saw at lunch, all separated into their groups by the tables they sat at. Let’s see: the potheads, the burnouts (there’s a distinction), the underclassmen, the jocks, the band kids, the gamers, the cheerleaders… that’s when I caught sight of someone. An _unfamiliar_ someone. I had every table and every person that sat at each table memorized; it wasn’t often that people moved seats. That’s why I almost immediately picked this guy out. One, he didn’t belong at that table. Two, I had never seen him before. At a small school like this, both were unheard of.

He was very appealing looking. And when I say appealing… he was hot. He looked like a male model, and I was surprised to find that he wasn’t being flocked by the cheerleaders, all of them fawning over him, but there was no one around him. He kind of looked familiar, which led me to believe that maybe he _was_ a model. _Hot and famous, he really should be getting more attention._

He had tousled brown hair and what looked to be black eyes, but something was telling me they were brown. And on top of his piercingly beautiful looks he also had a smooth and dark style that complemented them well.

And even with all this it wasn’t what kept me looking at him. There was something… unusual about him. No, not unusual. That wasn’t the right word. There was something… abnormal about him. It still didn’t seem like the right world. I searched my mental dictionary.

Lethologica came to mind- the state of not being able to remember the word you want. I imagined not being able to remember the word for not being able to remember a word and mentally chuckled at the irony. Once I was over my stupid humor I got back on topic. What was the word I wanted? …Better question, what was off about him? I thought for a moment then wanted to stop myself when I heard my answer in my head.

It was his aura.

I thought for sure I was off my rocker this time, but when I looked away at someone else then back again at him there was definitely a difference. I'd read about auras before and agreed with the idea to a certain extent, but I'd never so strongly felt one. And I certainly had never felt one so strongly from a person I hadn't even met, wasn't even interacting with.

I was still looking at him when he looked up from his tray of food and saw me gawking at him. The look on his face made me think that he had known that I had been looking at him for awhile now. How he could have known that I have no idea. The terrible thing was that I couldn’t look away. I was sitting there staring at him staring at me and I couldn’t do anything about it.

 _You’re going to scare this one away before you even have the chance to talk to him,_ I thought.

Luckily, something Dess said pulled my attention back to our table, effectively ending my staring contest with the mysterious guy. I wasn't actually sure what it was she had said that got my attention, but the next thing I heard her say was, “Not Colton.” It sounded like a response to something one of the boys must have said. I had no clue what they could be talking about.

“It _must_ be Colton,” Connor insisted.

“Colton _is_ a ten, don't get me wrong, but he's a total tool. His shitty personality turned his ten into a seven.”

“So who _is_ the hottest guy in school then?” Caleb asked.

 _Oh, for the love of all that is holy,_ I thought. How on earth this conversation must have started was beyond me. These three baffled me sometimes.

“Well,” Dess drawled, looked back and forth at the twins, “some would argue you two. Individually you're eights, but there being two of you boosts you to a ten.”

“Individual eights,” Caleb started.

“Bu collective tens?” Connor finished.

Dess shrugged. “There's something inherently hot about twins.”

“The hottest guys in school,” Caleb said, with a sound of wonder in his voice.

“That's not-” Dess started.

“The _hottest_ guys in school.” Connor interrupted, sounding just slightly cocky.

“Maybe not for long,” I heard myself say.

All three of their heads turned towards me.

Shit.

“Go on,” Dess said.

I sighed. “That new guy over there,” I nodded my head in the general direction he was in. “He looks like a damn k-pop group member.”

All three of them turned and looked directly at him. I literally face-palmed. No discretion.

Connor turned back and looked at me, seeming offended. “You think he's prettier than me?”

“For the love of all that is holy.” I groaned.

“Whatever. I’m moving to a table where I’ll be appreciated,” Connor whined. He started to stand up in mock departure but I put my hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down into his seat. He hit it with a thud and looked at me in surprise.

“Wait,” I commanded, finally looking away from the guy and meeting Connor’s surprised expression.

“Ow, Wic. Take it easy.” He reached up to rub his shoulder.

I moved my hand away. “Sorry.” I hadn’t meant to hurt him. I put my hand back down by my side. “I want you to do me a favor.”

“Oh, really? And what is this favor?”

“That guy.” I responded.

“What about him?” he asked.

“He's prettier than you.”

“No need to rub it in.”

I smirked before I continued. “I want you to find out everything you can about him by the end of the day. Where he came from. What his name is. All that stuff.”

His eyes went wide from the intensity in my voice. “Any reason you’re taking such an interest in our new student?” Connor knew me far too well. I did my best to _not_ take interest in anyone. I did everything possible to stay away from people as much as I could, which is why I wasn’t a fan of school. Trapped in a building with hundreds of people for hours on end… not my idea of fun. I just don’t like to be around people. I don’t know why; I just don’t.

“Look, this is important,” I said in a serious tone.

“Don’t worry, Wicked.” Caleb had gotten up and was now crouching beside me. He slung his arm around my shoulders in a way that avoided any skin contact. I was grateful that he knew me so well.

Caleb went on, “I’ll check him out for you.” He stood up straight and Connor stood up then too. They both started to walk away together. That’s when I realized what they were doing.

“Oh, my god. I didn’t mean _now_!” I hissed after them.

They turned and looked back at me, both of them smiling identical smiles.

“We’re the welcoming committee,” Caleb joked.

“We have to say hi,” Connor added.

I watched them walk over to where the guy was sitting and, just as they had with me moments ago, take the seats on either side of him.

The guy looked from one to the other then back down at his tray. He pretended to be wrapped up in eating his food, but I could tell he was listening to everything they were saying.

_I wonder what they’re saying to him… focus, read their lips._

That’s when he glanced up at me; catching me looking at him again. He raised his eyebrows then looked back down.

“I can’t _believe_ them,” I muttered. He must have assumed that I sent them over there. I could just _tell_ from the way he had looked at me that he knew that.

“You wanna tell me what’s going on?” Desiray asked.

I had almost completely forgotten all about her. When she spoke I nearly jumped out of my skin.

I finally broke eye contact from the scene at his table and looked at Dess.

“That guy,” I said simply. “Don’t look!” I hissed when she started to turn around to look at him.

“Okay…” she said in a tone that sounded more like she was saying, you’re crazy. “What about him?” she asked.

“He's giving me some strange vibes,” I explained.

She hummed as she considered this. Finally she said, “Like creepy, date-rape vibes or...?”

“Geez, no! Just- vibes. I don't know! I can't explain it.”

I looked back at the scene again to find the boys still chattering away and the guy still looking down at his tray of food. I could tell from here that the tray was empty but the boys didn’t seem to notice.

“He _is_ prettier than the twins,” she said.

“I suppose so,” I answered, not looking back at her. It was the biggest understatement of the century. “But that has nothing to do with the current situation.”

“Oh, that has everything to do with anything.”

“Dess, just shut up for a second. Okay?” I was trying to focus on the boys so I could see what they were saying. If I focused I could read their lips, but Desiray’s questions were making it hard for me to really concentrate. If I just had some silence it was almost as if I could _hear_ them.

“Okay,” she answered sounding a little hurt.

“Sorry,” I muttered.

I went back to watching them.

The boy was standing up now. He grabbed his tray, turned and said something to Connor, then turned and said something to Caleb, then he walked away.

Caleb and Connor glanced at each other, smirked, then stood up too.

I looked to see where the guy had taken off to.

 _He was coming this way! Calm down. The door is this way. He has to come this way to leave._ I was trying the best I could to convince myself that this was why he was coming towards me. It wasn’t that farfetched. He would have to come this way if he was leaving, or even if he was just taking his tray up.

He was really close now; only one table away.

I could hear my heart pounding in my ears as he slowly got closer and closer.

During his entire approach he had been looking straight ahead, but now he glanced at me. It was only for a second, as if he were acknowledging that he knew I was looking at him. It happened so quickly that I couldn’t be sure that he had looked at me at all.

He walked right by me towards the door.

As he had passed me I had felt what I had felt the first time I had seen him. It was just this certain… intensity that he was giving off.

I swallowed hard and looked back at the boys again.

They were coming towards me now too, taking the same path that the guy had taken. They slowed as they passed our table.

“This one’s gonna be a challenge,” Caleb stated.

“We love a challenge,” Connor said in a mischievous tone.

They both smiled those smiles and followed the direction that the guy had gone in.

“See what you’ve started?” Dess asked.

I looked right into her beautiful lapis lazuli blue eyes and said simply, “There’s just something not… _normal_ about that guy,” and I got up and walked away.

“Don’t do anything stupid!” she called after me, but I barely heard her. I was going to figure out what was up with this guy, no matter what it took.

 

*     *     *     *     *

 

I hadn’t seen Connor or Caleb since lunch, which had been about two hours ago, and it wasn’t for a lack of trying. I also hadn’t seen _him_ either. I hadn’t been able to focus in my last two classes at all. All I could think about was that guy. I had always been good at reading people; getting a good sense of a person just from looking at them. I could usually just tell what kind of person they were: kind, deceitful, creepy… it came in handy. But with him it had been different, whatever I had sensed in him was something I had never sensed in anyone before, and I wanted to know _why_. Why was this guy different from everyone else? I _had_ to find out. I didn’t know why. Maybe it was just my over active curiosity. Or maybe it was my love of the unusual. All I knew was that I had to find out everything I could about this mysterious new guy.

 _I’ll stalk him if I have to_ , I thought. _No, not stalk; selectively watch._

The bell rang and I pulled myself out of my mind babble. I scooped up my things and started towards the door.

 _I don’t want anyone bothering me with my mind this far gone_ , I thought as I reached the door and saw the hall full of people. I grabbed my book and opened it and started reading as I walked to my last class of the day. I was lucky enough to have English with Mrs. Scott last period; it was an easy class and a good way to end the day.

I had a tendency to have my face buried in a book a lot of the time; especially if I wasn’t in the mood to talk or be bothered by anyone. I was pretty good at reading and walking. I’m not sure how, but I managed to see where I was going without actually looking where I was going; I never ran into anything.

Just that second I bumped into something. No, _someone_.

_Guess I spoke too soon._

I had been looking down at my book when I had hit them, so I didn’t know who I had walked into. Whoever it was though had dropped their stuff just like I had dropped mine; we had hit each other pretty hard. I was looking down at our scattered things on the floor, still not looking up to see who it was; I could gather that it was a guy though. It was obvious that it had been my fault; I wasn’t watching where I was going after all. I was slightly annoyed that my attempt to avoid people had been ruined, but I was still quick to apologize.

“I’m _so_ sorry,” I started, bending down to start picking up my scattered things. “I really shouldn’t have my head buried in a book when I’m walking down the hallway; if not for my safety than at least for the safety of others,” I rambled.

He had started to crouch down to pick up his things too when I went on.

“Oh, here. Let me get that. It’s the least I can do.” I started to pick up his things too which consisted of a black three ring binder, a text book, and… I chuckled at the last item. It was a copy of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

_Whoever it is, I like them._

I picked up my stuff in one hand and his in the other. When I stood up and reached out to give him his things I finally saw who it was that I had hit.

“Thanks,” the guy said, but it wasn’t just _any_ guy.

 _Oh, for fuck sake! It was him! That guy from lunch that had caught me looking at him. Just pretend you don’t know who he is. That shouldn’t be too hard because you_ don’t. _You’ve never seen him before… don’t let him think any differently. I’m sure he doesn’t remember me._

“Hey, you’re that guy from lunch.” I guess he did remember. “You were staring at me.”

“I, uh,” I stuttered. _Oh, god! I was getting that feeling from him again. Just focus! Think before you speak so you don’t come off sounding creepy or weird or just plain crazy._ I thought quickly of a good excuse for my actions and figured something out after a second. “I was just looking around. Spacing really. And I saw you and I didn’t recognize you is all. I didn’t mean to stare, it’s just that this is such a small school that I know everybody and I was surprised when I saw someone I didn’t recognize. I knew you must be a new student. I don’t want this to sound weird but I was just memorizing your face that way I would know you when I saw you again. That’s the same way that I remember other people too.” I paused for a moment to see his reaction to my strange little story. He didn’t seem uncomfortable with what I was telling him or weirded out so I went on. “Do you mind giving me a name to put with the face?”

“Ki. My name is Ki.”

 _Ki?_ A flash of a memory went though my mind of when I had heard the name before. Ki… Ki… I couldn’t place where I had heard it, but I did remember what it meant.

“So you’re a tree?” I joked. Ki was Japaneses for tree.

He tilted his head and looked at me strangely. Then he began to smirk.

“You speak Japanese?” he asked in a bemused tone.

“もちろん違います.” My eyes widened. Where the hell had that come from? And why did I know it meant 'of course not' in Japanese? I really need to spend less time on the internet. “Too much time spend on the internet,” I said out loud, as way of explanation.

He chuckled. “Do I get a name to put to the face also?”

“My name’s Wicca, but most people call me Wic.”

“Wicca? Really?” His smirk grew and now it seemed he was trying to hold in a chuckle.

“A weird name, I know.”

“No, it's not that. It's just-” He shook his head, like he was dismissing a thought. “Wic,” he said, “it's nice to meet you.”

I remembered back to lunch and felt myself blush.

“I’m really sorry about my brothers. Ignore them, they're insufferable. They were just messing with you cause you’re the new guy,” I explained. I knew I was lying, but _he_ didn’t know that.

“They were your brothers? Those twins?” he asked.

I realized what I had said and shook myself for being so stupid. _He doesn’t know you; he’s not going to understand what you call each other._ “No, no. Connor and Caleb are _not_ my brothers. We’ve just known each other our whole lives, grew up together, mom's are best friends, so I refer to them as my brothers.”

He nodded his head in understanding.

I went on. “I don’t know what they said to you, but I’m sorry. They’re trouble makers. The funny thing is that teachers let them get away with it because they’re my brothers.” I laughed. It was true; teachers liked me. They let me get away with just about anything. They even liked me enough to let my brothers get away with anything too. I leaned in and whispered, “And because they’re closet geniuses, but don’t tell anybody. It’s a secret.” I chuckled. It was true that the boys were geniuses, but they also refused to do any more than they had to which had been annoying teachers for years.

Before either of us could say anything else the bell rang.

I realized that I had made him late. I wouldn’t get in trouble for being late, but he might.

“I’ve made you late. Where were you heading?” I asked him.

“To Mr. Carson?” He gave me a look that was asking if this sounded correct. He was new after all. He probably didn’t know many names yet.

I nodded my head. “I’ll walk you there so you don’t get in trouble. Teachers are usually pretty lenient with new students, but I don’t want you getting in any trouble because of me.” I didn’t add that I wanted some more time to study him, or that Mr. Carson would never be the type to get angry at a new student for being late or to be the type to get angry period.

“Alright.”

I turned and started down the hall.

Ki followed me and was quick to match my pace so he was walking next to me.

We were walking in silence and it was making me uncomfortable. It wasn’t the silence that was making me uncomfortable but the fact that the silence might have been making him uncomfortable. I’m weird.

I decided to break it.

“I like your book,” I said dumbly. Of all the things I could have said or asked that’s what I came up with. Thinking under pressure wasn’t really my thing.

“You’ve read it?” he asked. He didn’t sound at all rude or mocking but generally interested.

“Of course. It was what started it after all.”

“Started it?”

“The whole vampire phenomenon. I think that’s where most of the stories started. Sure there were legends before that, but I think Stoker was the first to really start the entertainment aspect of it.”

I saw him glance at me for a split second then look forward again.

“So you don’t believe in it?” he asked in a very serious tone.

“It?”

“Vampires? You don’t believe they really exist?”

I laughed out loud. “Do you?” I asked, looking over at him.

“Why not?” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

I looked at him a little more seriously now. I was very open minded about the supernatural, but I usually just laughed it off around other people. Otherwise, they would think you were crazy. I could tell that he would never think that though.

“I do too,” I said simply.

He looked over at me a little surprised.

“Here we are,” I chimed before he could get the chance to respond to my confession. We had reached Mr. Carson’s room. This was his stop.

I tapped on the door then stepped into the room.

Everyone in the room turned and looked at us standing there; the usual response in that sort of situation.

“Hello, Wic.”

“Hello, Mr. Carson.” I smiled at him. Mr. Carson was in his thirties and very good looking for his age. He was a bit of a student favorite with all the girls, but that wasn’t why I liked him. He had a look about him that told you that he knew a lot and was well educated. Also, I got good vibes from him. He was a good person. “This is Ki, your new student. I just wanted to let you know that it was my fault that he was late.”

“Oh, that’s fine Wic,” he said even though it was obvious that he had been in the middle of starting class when I had entered; teachers like me. “No problem at all. Thank you for showing our new student the way.”

“Of course.” I smiled at him again. “Anytime,” I said as I glanced at Ki.

I smiled one last time, nodded my head, then left.

I walked to my class recapping the entire encounter in my head from beginning to end. It had gone fairly well. And he seemed nice enough. Maybe if we became friends I could find out why he was so different. I was full of hope which was unusual for me; I was quite the pessimist, but for once I was feeling optimistic. This would work, it had to.

I got to my class around ten minutes late. I walked in and smiled at Mrs. Scott who was standing at the front of the room. She smiled back and went on with what she had been saying. She was talking about the book we were reading in class; the one I had already finished.

I went and sat down in my usual seat and spent the remainder of the period thinking about Ki.

 

*     *     *     *     *

 

When the bell finally rang it was like being woken up in the morning by your alarm clock. I hated it then too.

I was having so much fun thinking about Ki that when the bell rang to go home I was actually annoyed. _Annoyed!_ On most occasions I was staring at the clock watching the second hand tick around the clock wishing I had the ability to speed up time, but today it had all passed in a blur. A dark, mysterious, brown eyed blur.

When the bell rang I stood up in a daze and started towards the door.

“Wicca?” Mrs. Scott brought me out of my trance.

I shook myself and turned to face her. “Yes, Mrs. Scott?”

“Can I talk to you for a moment? I wanted to propose something to you that I think you may like.”

I walked over to her desk intrigued by her tone of voice.

“So… you’ve gotten my attention. Your proposal?”

“I talked with Mr. Duncan and I got something approved that I think you’ll like. Since you are so far ahead in my class and your grade is beyond an A plus plus,” she chuckled, “and since you have already finished the book and the paper that is going along with it that I have planed to work on for the next month in class, if you’d like, you can go home early. I explained the situation to Mr. Duncan and he decided to make an exception and allow you to leave early if you’d like. Honestly Wic, coming to my class is just going to be a waste of your time until we’ve finished this book.”

I stood and stared for awhile absorbing everything she had said. It took me awhile to actually respond. “So?” I said raising my index finger like I had an idea, or was trying to form one. “I? You?” I paused and managed to form a coherent sentence in my head. “Really? I can leave after seventh period?”

“On one condition.”

“Oh, I knew there’d be a catch,” I joked.

“I just want you to promise me something. Keep reading, keep writing. I don’t want you to think that just because you don’t have an English class that you don’t have to anymore.”

“There isn’t a thing in this word that can keep me from enjoying a good book or writing a killer story.” I loved to read and write. They were my two favorite hobbies.

“Very well. It seems that you’re days will be ending early for awhile.”

I was so excited. This was so cool!

I was about to start giving my thanks when I was grabbed by either arm.

“Wicked, come on!” Connor said in an irritated tone.

“We’ve been waiting for you at your locker for _five_ minutes!” Caleb exclaimed.

“Oh, encompassing woe!“ I put the back of my hand on my forehead and pantomimed turmoil. “Five minutes?! How will you go on?”

“Let’s go,” they both said together.

Connor and Caleb started to pull me out of the room.

“Thank you so much, Mrs. Scott! I’m really looking forward to not having to come to your class for the next month!” I shouted after her, chuckling.

Both of the boys stopped.

“What?” they both asked in unison.

“My days are going to be ending early for awhile,” I explained.

“That’s perfect timing!” Caleb exclaimed.

“What are you talking about Caleb? This is totally unfair.”

“Stop jealin’ for a second and think about it,” Caleb taunted. “He’ll have extra time for scheming and finding out about Mr. Mysterious.”

“That’s what we wanted to talk to you about,” Connor explained.

“Come on.” I waved my hand for them to move. “Walk and talk.”

We started down the hall towards my locker.

“Well-” Caleb started.

“Let me go first,” I cut him off. “I met him earlier. I know that his name is Ki.”

“Yeah, what kind of a name is that anyway?” Caleb asked.

“Ki? Key to what?” Connor added.

“Don’t be an ass you uncultured idiots. Ki means “tree” in Japanese. And if he _were_ a key, that key would go to the lock that is my never-ending boredom.”

My eyes went wide. _Was it just me or had that sounded unintentionally sexual?_

“Okay, Wic. Look,” Connor started. I could tell that he was setting up for a back and forth. Oh, how to describe a back and forth… it was basically when the boys teamed up on you and went on and on not even giving you the chance to get a word in. It was very overwhelming for someone who wasn’t used to it, but I had years of experience.

“We think you’ve gone a little overboard this time,” Caleb said in a serious voice.

“We know you’re weird,”

“And we love that about you,” Caleb said in an attempt to redeem themselves.

“But we think you’ve just completely lost it.”

“We mean that in the nicest way possible,” Caleb explained.

“But come on, Wic. The key to your lock?”

“Even you got to admit that you sound crazy.”

“And the way you were looking at him at lunch.” Connor’s voice had gone up at the end in surprise.

“It was somewhere between wanting to murder him and wanting to jump his bones.”

“I mean, he is one of those people that's so good looking that you kind of want to murder them.”

“But also jump their bones.”

“It's a very confusing feeling.”

“Right?! It's kind of like that feeling you get when an animal is so cute that you just want to hurt it.”

“Exactly!”

“Okay, enough!” I said in an annoyed tone. They just didn’t get it. “You two look,” I said, stopping so I could get my point fully across. I looked around to make sure the coast was clear. Nobody was in ear shot. “You know how I can sense things about people? Now I usually just ignore it because I don’t like to feed my over active imagination, but that doesn’t mean you can deny how right I’ve been about things before.”

“He’s got a point,” Caleb agreed.

“Continue,” Connor approved. “I’m listening.”

“Well, when I saw Ki I got this strange sense from him. And I felt it again when he was leaving the cafeteria and _again_ when I ran into him in the hallway, so it wasn’t a fluke. Whatever it was, I’ve never felt that from anyone before. No one. All I want to know is what makes him different.”

“That _actually_ seemed reasonable to me,” Connor said in an amused tone. “If he’s lost his mind then so have I.”

“Wait. Rewind.” Caleb said, waving his hand in front of his face. “What about running into him in the hallway?”

I opened my mouth then clamped it shut again. That’s right, I never actually told them about that, just that I knew his name. Story time!

“Well, after lunch I kept thinking about it. What I had felt and why I had felt it and _how_ I was going to find out what was up with him. So when the bell rang for eighth period I didn’t want anyone bothering me in the hallway because I wasn’t really thinking clearly so I grabbed my book and started reading. I was nearly to eighth period when I smacked right into him. I made up an excuse for staring at him and we were talking when the bell rang. I walked him to his class so he wouldn’t get in trouble for being late and then I went to eighth period.”

“Wait,” Connor said.

“Yeah, hold up.” Caleb agreed.

“Where did you run into him?” They asked in unison.

“In the hallway outside of Mrs. Scott’s room,” I answered in a confused tone. I didn’t understand why it mattered _where_ I had ran into him.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Connor said.

“Not a bit,” Caleb agreed with him again.

“Explain,” I said sternly.

“When we left lunch we went to the office,” Caleb started.

“Yeah. And we got the secretary to give us a copy of this Ki guy’s schedule,” Connor went on.

“We’ve been following him all afternoon.”

“You-” I started but was cut off.

“Seventh period he has Mr. Davis.”

“Yeah, and eighth period he has Mr. Carson.”

“It doesn’t make any sense that he would have been in that hallway.”

“What about-” I started to ask and was cut off again.

“His locker isn’t that way either,” Caleb said, shooting down my suggestion before I even managed to voice it.

“Maybe he just got lost,” I managed to get in.

“Highly unlikely,” they both said together.

“The entire time we were following him he didn’t get lost once,” Connor explained.

“He knew this school like the back of his hand,” Caleb agreed.

They both stood looking at each other, occasionally glancing at me. They were communicating silently to each other. It was a twin thing I suppose, but I had known them for so long that I knew some of the language.

“What are you two thinking?” I asked.

Caleb gave Connor the go ahead and he turned to face me.

“We think he might have run into you on purpose.”

“Okay, who’s being ridiculous now?” I asked in a teasing tone.

“Wicked, you don’t get it,” Caleb said in a forceful tone.

“We think there’s something up with this guy too,” Connor explained.

It took me a moment to say anything; I couldn’t believe they were actually agreeing with me.

“Why?” I finally asked.

“At lunch when we went over to talk to him he didn’t say anything the entire time,”

“But when he finally got up he looked at me and said, ‘It was nice to meet you Caleb.’ like a perfect gentlemen.”

“Then he turned to me and nodded and said, ‘Connor.’ before leaving.”

They both seemed pretty weirded out by these happenings, but I felt like I had been deprived of an essential part of the story.

“And?” I mused, trying to probe for more. “Why did this freak you two out so much?”

They both looked at each other. Caleb was the one to speak.

“We never told him our names, Wic.”

“And we didn’t have any classes with him before that.”

“That was the first time we saw him all day. At lunch.”

Realization hit me. He had known their names.

 _Maybe someone had just told him about the boys at some point earlier on in the day,_ I tried to convince myself, but my gut was telling me differently.

 

*     *     *     *     *

 

Once I got home I spent the rest of the day thinking of ways that I could find out more about Ki. I plotted and schemed the day away. It was nearly midnight when I picked up my phone and opened up the group chat that the twins and I always had going.

 

Me: What are your thoughts on petty crime?

Caleb: Mixed.

Connor: Love it.

Caleb: What are we doing?

Connor: What are we doing?

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story I originally wrote back in 2011, and I am currently attempting to re-write it (hopefully making it better). This is the first full-length story that I ever completed so it holds a very special place in my heart, as do the characters. As I am trying to improve the story from the original, I would really appreciate any constructive feedback you may have. Thanks for reading! Enjoy.


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